Lesson
Notes by Jeff Fiorentino
When I mentioned I was doing a KISS style
lesson in our Beyond VH section to some friends the majority of their
comments and thoughts about that was a chuckle and some of them stating that
KISS was "Cheese Factor 10".. I like to think of those people as
"WRONG"! LOL..
The reality is KISS back in the 70's was one of the big innovators of Rock
as we know it.. Kiss used 2 guitars brilliantly hardly ever having
each guitar doing the same thing. Each guitar in KISS had its own part
to play in the song, and while this was done before KISS came along by other
bands I don't think many accomplished this as well as KISS did. KISS was
and to some extent still is masterful at creating rich song content
typically based on a creative guitar, bass, or drum hook craftily blended
with smooth underlying melodies and harmonies..
What I decided to do here for our lesson is a JFRocks style mock-up of the
1976 Destroyer classic "Detroit Rock City".. Originally I
intended to do a montage track using several KISS examples but none of
those flowed right so they were scrapped for the track you hear on this
lesson's example MP3 "JFRock City"..
To keep it interesting and as an added lesson for you to play with on
the Jam Tracks I played with the time a little bit.
There are a few rests and odd measures in a couple places that KISS
didn't used. Based on the timing of the track and the odd 5/4 time
measure that pops up here and there, timing-wise anyway our song example is more like
a RUSH
meets KISS sort of thing, but the riffing and band dynamic is all early era KISS..
It's important as you go through this lesson to take note of how the 2
guitars work together. "Detroit Rock City" in general
is a great example of multi-guitar parts working together in a symphonic
nature to create melodies, harmonies, and a general vibe that couldn't be
obtained from 1 single guitar or even 2 guitars playing the same thing all
the time...
Enjoy the lesson and please be sure to listen to the song example MP3 a few times
before diving into the video lesson and guitar tabs below..
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
JFRock City
Guitar TAB Transcription
Transcribed by:
Erica Reese
Lesson notes by: Jeff Fiorentino
Song Intro 
 
NOTE: The
OCTAVE effect is only used for Guitars 1 and 3 during the and song ending
riff. Guitar 2 has no OCTAVE on it for this riffing part.
E_________________________________________
B_________________________________________
G_________________________________________
D_________________________________________
A_________________________________________
E___~~~~~~~~~ car effect sound - see video____________
Guitar 1: With OCTAVE effect.
A5 B5
E___________________________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________________________
G___________________________________________________________________________________________
D___________________________________________________________________________________________
A__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_4_4_4_4_4_4--2___
7_____9___
E_______________________________________________________________________________0_5___0_7___
E___________________________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________________________
G___________________________________________________________________________________________
D___________________________________________________________________________________________
A__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_2__4_4_4_4_4_4_4--2___
7_____9___
E_______________________________________________________________________________0_5___0_7___
Guitar 2: NO octave
used, comes in 2/3 the way through guitar 1's riff, and in the single note
portion of the riff is harmonizing using the
5th's of guitar 1's part.
E___________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________
G___________________________________________________________
D__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_6_6_6_6_6_6--4____2____4____________
A________________________________________
_0____2____________
E_______________________________________0____0______________
Guitar 2 Does the whole 2nd go around of the
riff with guitar 1.
E____________________________________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________________________________
G____________________________________________________________________________________________
D__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_4__6_6_6_6_6_6_6--4____2____4_____
A________________________________________________________________________________
_0____2_____
E_______________________________________________________________________________0____0_______
Guitar 3: OCTAVE used,
comes in 2/3 the way through guitar 2's SECOND go around of the riff. This
guitar part during the single note portion of the riff is
harmonizing one octave above guitar 1's part.
A5/E B5/F#
E______________________________________________________________________
B______________________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________ 2______4________
D__11_9__11_9__11_9__11_9__11_11_11_11_11_11_11--9_____2______4_________
A______________________________________________________________________
E___________________________________________________0______0___________
Verse Part
What I did with the verse part here
was change the chord pattern of guitar 1 up a little bit
from the original KISS track, and had guitar 2 play the Bass riff with guitar 1.
Note I also altered the Bass riff a bit but we have to do that for our lessons
here at JFRocks.. That said it's close enough so you'll get the idea...
Guitar 1:
Let the power chords ring out...
C#5
E5
B5
C#5
E5
B5
A5 B5
E___________________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________________
G__13_________16______16_______13________16_______16________________________________
D__11_______x_14______16_______11______x_14_______16___6_6_6_6_6_6_6--4______________
A___________________x_14________________________x_14______________________7_____9___
E_______________________________________________________________________0_5___0_7___
E___________________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________________
G__13_________16______16_______13________16_______16________________________________
D__11_______x_14______16_______11______x_14_______16___6_6_6_6_6_6_6--4______________
A___________________x_14________________________x_14______________________7_____9___
E_______________________________________________________________________0_5___0_7___
Guitar 2: Melody
riffing, bass plays along. WITH OCTAVE
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G__________________________6_4__________________
D______________________________6_4______________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2__________7_4__________
E____________4__________________________________
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G_______________________________________________
D___________________________2-0_________________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2_________2_4___________
E____________4_________________4x_______________
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G__________________________6_4__________________
D______________________________6_4______________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2__________7_4__________
E____________4__________________________________
E_______________________________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________________________
G_______________________________________________________________________
D____________________________11_11_11_11_11_11_11--9_____2____
4_________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2_______________________________0_____2_________
E____________4________________________________________0_____0___________
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G__________________________6_4__________________
D______________________________6_4______________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2__________7_4__________
E____________4__________________________________
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G_______________________________________________
D___________________________2-0____2____________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2______4x____4__________
E____________4__________________________________
E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G__________________________6_4__________________
D______________________________6_4______________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2__________7_4__________
E____________4__________________________________
E_______________________________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________________________
G_______________________________________________________________________
D____________________________11_11_11_11_11_11_11--9_____2____
4_________
A__4_2___4_2___4____x_4_2_______________________________0_____2_________
E____________4________________________________________0_____0___________
Bridge Turnaround Riff
There are 3 guitar parts on this riff
which is designed to build tension before a chorus release of tension.
Guitar 3 simply holds and lets ring out the power chord names written above the
guitar 1 and 2 tabs below. Both guitars 1 and 2 play the same riff.
This is done a lot in rock with riffs to add a wider stereo effect, it can be
done with 1 guitar recording the same riff twice in the studio..
Guitars 1 and 2 play the same riff,
Guitar 1 HAS OCTAVE on it, Guitar 2 does not.
C#5
E__________________________________________
B__________________________________________
G__________________________________________
D_________________________2~_________2_____
A__4__4_2___2~_4______2_4____4_________4___
E_________4_________4____________2_4________
E___________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________
G___________________________________6_6_6__6_6_6_6--4________________________
D_________________________2~_________________________________2~________2____
A__4__4_2___2~_4______2_4____4___________________________2_4____4________4__
E_________4_________4__________________________________4____________2_4______
D#5
E5
E__________________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________________
D_________________________4~_________4__________2__________
A__6__6_4___4~_6______4_6____6_________6__________4~_______
E_________6_________6____________4_6________2_4_____________
Guitar 1:
A5 B5
E___________________________________________
B___________________________________________
G___________________________________________
D__6_6_6_6_6_6_6--4__________________________
A_____________________7______9______________
E___________________0_5____0_7______________
Guitar 2:
E___________________________________________
B___________________________________________
G___________________________________________
D___11_11_11_11_11_11_11--9____2______4______
A_____________________________0______2______
E___________________________0______0________
SOLO
I did a mock-up of the Detroit Rock City lead
break. Take note of the harmonizing going on between the 2 guitars.
I've given many lesson on harmonizing 2 guitars and this song is a great example
of mixing things up. Meaning if you're going to harmonize with 3rds for
example, don't JUST harmonize with 3rds, mix in some 1 octave up and or maybe
5ths for example to keep the harmony interesting.
In the case of our solo here Guitar 1 is the ROOT guitar and Guitar 2 is the
Harmony guitar and is harmonizing but the only real harmonized pitch is the 1st
one in the riff where guitar 1 is playing a G# and guitar 2 plays an E.
The rest of the riff is harmonized by guitar 2 1 Octave above the guitar 1 part
or 2 octaves above in the case of the final pitch in the solo.
Guitar 1:
NO OCTAVE EFFECT IN USE!!
*no chord (n.c.)
E___________________________________________________________________________________
B________4__________________________________4_5_4___________________________________
G______4___6~~____9_8_6__9_8_6__4~~_____4x_______4_2_1_2~~___6_4_2__6_4_2__1~~___
D__4--6_____________________________________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________________________________________
Guitar 2 and DRUMS
enter here.
E___________________________________________________________________________________
B________4__________________________________4_5_4___________________________________
G______4___6~~____9_8_6__9_8_6__4~~_____4x_______4_2_1_2~~___1~~___5~_6~~~______
D__4--6_____________________________________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________________________________________
Guitar 2: OCTAVE EFFECT in use to add a slight dullness to these higher
pitches to help blend them better with the guitar 1 part.
E_________11_9~~___12_11_10__12_11_10______________11_12_11____________________________________
B______12______________________________12~~____12x__________12_10_9_10~~___9~~__13~_14~~~___
G__7--9_________________________________________________________________________________________
D______________________________________________________________________________________________
A______________________________________________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________________________________________
FULL BAND ENTERS HERE.
Guitar's 1 and 2 continue to solo.
Guitar 1:
NO OCTAVE EFFECT IN USE!!
A5
B5
A5
B5
E___________________________________________________________________________________
B________4__________________________________4_5_4___________________________________
G______4___6~~____9_8_6__9_8_6__4~~_____4x_______4_2_1_2~~___6_4_2__6_4_2__1~~___
D__4--6_____________________________________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________________________________________
Guitar 2:
OCTAVE EFFECT in use to add a slight dullness to these higher pitches to
help blend them better with the guitar 1 part.
E_________11_9~~___12_11_10__12_11_10_____________11_12_11____________________________________21~
B______12______________________________12~~___12x__________12_10_9_10~~___14_12_10__14_12_10____
G__7--9___________________________________________________________________________________________
D________________________________________________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________________________________________
Final Ending
The song's final ending is pretty much the way it
started. The very final ending is below.
It ends on a C#5 chord.
End
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